Ryan, a branding expert, shares insights on building effective brands through storytelling and consumer engagement, emphasizing the importance of consistency across all touchpoints. He discusses how brand narratives and values shape consumer perceptions and decision-making, advocating for a clear mission and understanding of the target audience. The document highlights the role of personal narratives in branding and guides on creating impactful brand guidelines.

1. BRANDING

2. PRESENTING TODAY
In 8 short years, Ryan helped build one of Canada’s
best user experience agencies, developed a
national honey company, and won the advertising
industry’s top awards at Cannes.
He’s recently quit his job as a director in SEO to
travel the world.
Follow him at @gosquab, @nudebeehoney and
@ryantylerthomas on all your social media
channels.

3. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 BASICS How to define a brand

4. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 BASICS How to define a brand
2 STORYTELLING How to tell a consumer story

5. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 BASICS How to define a brand
2 STORYTELLING How to tell a consumer story
3 GUIDELINES How to create consistency

6. THE BASICS

7. BRANDS CONVEY MEANING
A brand is the summation of any Touchpoints that
make what you offer distinct.

8. YOU’RE NOT A COMMODITY
Don’t be a cow… ground beef is mainly regarded as a
Commodity Product and traded in ‘futures’ because
every unit is treated the same.

9. TELL A STORY AT EVERY STEP
You’re defining an experience at every step of the
Purchase Funnel – every Consumer Touchpoint
supports or refutes that story.
BRAND DISCOVERY
MEDIA - SOCIAL MEDIA REFERRALS - WOM
ADVERTISING SPONSORSHIPS – IN STORE – IN PERSON
BRAND ENGAGEMENT
PRODUCT QUALITY – PRICE POINT – SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
PURCHASING ENVIRONMENT – PRODUCT STYLE
POST ENGAGEMENT
RETURNS – REWARDS – SOCIAL STATUS
ONGOING CONVERSATIONS

10. DO IT RIGHT … DO IT AGAIN
Brand Equity is the value that these repeated and
consistent actions create.

11. SEARCH INTEREST
2005 to 2015
STOCK PRICES
2011 to 2015
BRANDING TAKES TIME
These repeated actions over time will show growth
in many areas, slowly raising Brand Value over time
through Shared Experience.

12. BRAND STORYTELLING

13. STORYTELLING MATTERS

14. There are hundreds of businesses solving the same
problem as you. Many competitor products will
address the same Consumers Need State.
YOU EXIST IN AN ECOSYSTEM

15. PARITY IS EVERYWHERE
A Parity Product is a product category or group of
categories where the several brands within that
category possess functionally equivalent attributes.

16. THE TRAVEL CATEGORY
Transportation is a Consumers Need State. How you
choose to get there tells a story and turns Parity
Product into a Brand Position.

17. FROM POINT A TO POINT B
Each method of transport tells a story, each Industry
Vertical is in turn affected by numerous Points Of
Differentiation.
CULTURAL
EXPECTATIONS
COST
SOCIAL
EXPECTATIONS
EASE OF
USE
Marketing
Messaging
Access
Aspirations

18. EVERY CHOICE TELLS A STORY
Even when unspoken, we are using the enormous
amounts of Implicit Information available to create a
story.
“The Adaptive Unconscious
does an excellent job of
sizing up the world, warning
people of danger, setting
goals, and initiating action
in a sophisticated and
efficient manner”.

19. CATEGORIES IN CATEGORIES
Within single Category Vertical, price, position and
features effect Consumer Mindshare.

20. “GETTING AROUND” MATTERS
The products we buy and the choices we make are
often tied to how we Self Identify – attributing
qualities to what we choose to buy and what they
say about us.

21. BIFURCATION OVER TIME
Mature Categories produce specialization.
We live in a world of plenty where avoiding Analysis
Paralysis is only possible though storytelling.

22. SHIRKING NORMS ARE SIGNALS
Your story will forever be viewed in context to the
Societal Norms, Cultural Touchpoints and Category
Expectations that consumers carry.

23. THIS IS NOTHING NEW
Navigating and understanding our world through
stories is hard-wired into us as a species and the core
of our Oral Traditions.

24. THE PURCHASE CYCLE (AGAIN)
This chain of events is a Brand Narrative, and people
buy stories with a far greater premium than they do
Need States.
BRAND DISCOVERY
MEDIA - SOCIAL MEDIA REFERRALS - WOM
ADVERTISING SPONSORSHIPS – IN STORE – IN PERSON
BRAND ENGAGEMENT
PRODUCT QUALITY – PRICE POINT – SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
PURCHASING ENVIRONMENT – PRODUCT STYLE
POST ENGAGEMENT
RETURNS – REWARDS – SOCIAL STATUS
ONGOING CONVERSATIONS

25. LIES DON’T BUILD BRANDS
The danger is always people’s Outcome Bias – like
racism, knowing it exists is the front line in
addressing these assumptions.
People aren’t gullible, backwards or stupid – it’s simply that as a
species, we’ve created so many ways to solve the same problem that
we’ve created new kinds of Analysis Paralysis.
These Personal Narratives and Shared Experiences provide useful
guide posts in our decision making process.

26. TAKE A BREAK

27. THE MONEY WILL COME LATERTHE MONEY WILL COME

28. REMEMBER THE RULES
Now let’s build some Brand Guidelines!
CONSISTENCY IS KING
HAVE A VISION AND REPEAT THAT VISION – YOU WON’T PLEASE EVERYONE EVERY
TIME BUT YOU’LL CREATE MEANING FOR THE CONSUMERS YOU REACH
EVERY TOUCHPOINT MATTERS
MAKE SURE TO TELL YOUR STORY AT EVERY STEP IN THE CYCLE
DREAM BIG - TARGET NARROW
CATEGORIES GET MORE COMPLEX OVER TIME – NOT LESS – DON’T BE AFRAID TO
SPEAK TO A SMALLER SUBSET OF CONSUMERS.

29. BRAND GUIDELINES

30. WHAT’S OUR MISSION?
If you’re not interested in changing the world, do
anything other than start a business. There are easier
ways to Monetize your skills.
“Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites
you in life into capital, so that you do more of it and
more forward with it.”

31. NIKE'S MISSION
Nike wants to “bring inspiration and innovation to
every athlete in the world”. That’s the Brand Vision
that informs everything they do.

32. VALUES GUIDE OUR MISSION
Your company's values don’t come up everyday, they
are the Reactive Framework that help direct your
Company Mission.
“Leave this world a little Better than
you found it.”

33. PATAGONIA’S VALUES
Sustainability, as well as a Connection To Nature,
Harm Reduction and Conscious Consumerism all
play a pivotal role in Patagonia’s business decisions.

34. WHO IS OUR CORE CONSUMER
Always seek to Scratch-Your-Own-Itch first; with
some 7 billion people on earth it’s a good bet a few of
them share your Values and Mission.
Psychographics group people by personality, values, opinions, attitudes,
interests, and lifestyles.
Demographics group people by race, age, income, gender identity,
education, occupation, and location.
Need States group people by the key issues that define the decision
making process on any given issue or market space.

35. Johnson’s Baby Core Consumer
Johnson’s Baby targets 25 – 35 year old women,
impacted by an Informational Need State directly
related to first time pregnancy regardless of race,
language, or location.

36. What Tone Is Our Voice
Linguistic Anthropology matters when defining a
brand’s Consumer Relationships; friends, lovers,
gurus, all speak different tongues.
“I'm not a Businessman, I'm a
business, Man!”

37. RED BULL HAS A CLEAR TONERED BULL’S CLEAR TONE
Red Bull speaks like a friend who’s always daring you
to do something dumb, but strangely brilliant in how
they explain why it’s a great idea, its Expertise and
Excitement.
Full Flex Express: On Board Skrillex's Train Tour
Marco went on a trip around the world and Tested the
planet’s Weirdest Sleeping Situations...
Gives You Wings

38. WHAT IS TOP Of MIND
If you don’t consider the Cognitive Response your
brand creates, your consumers will define it for you -
No one ever wants to be a one-hit-wonder.
“Oh, I swear what he means…
At this moment you mean
Everything”

39. TOP OF MIND AT DOS EQUIS
Advertising Clutter leaves consumers little room to
carefully consider anything. Until you’ve found what
drives your brand’s Cognitive Response, you can’t ask
what’s next.

40. NOW YOU CAN BE THE COW
Every brand needs a Logo!

41. LEARN FROM FLAG DESIGN
Vexillology is the study of flags and the rules of great
flag design will teach you a lot about a great logo.
1. Keep it simple
2. Use meaningful symbols
3. Use 2-3 basic colours
4. No lettering or seals
5. Be distinctive or be related

42. GREAT FLAGS, GREAT BRANDS
With singular focus, clear tone, a core consumer,
strong values, and a mission, they can rally people –
ultimately becoming Touchpoints of their own.

43. GO MAKE A GREAT BRAND
“The people who are crazy
enough to think they
can Change The World are
the ones who do.”

44. WHO HAS QUESTIONS

45. AFTER TODAY
Direct Email: Ryan@SquabAndPigeon.com
On Social Look For : Ryan Tyler Thomas
My Projects: Go Squab, Nude Bee Honey Co.